


The Girl on the Gurney

by Becauseherface



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Anya & Lexa (The 100) Are Cousins, Dog!Bellamy, F/F, Implied Abby Griffin/Marcus Kane - Freeform, May Never Be Completed, Minor Injuries, Minor Octavia Blake/Raven Reyes, Slow Burn Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Unfinished, hospital au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 11:13:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14543487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Becauseherface/pseuds/Becauseherface
Summary: Clarke is on work placement at Ark Med when an unconscious girl is brought in with injuries from a car accident. Clarke is instantly captivated without knowing why, but the girl has no ID on her and it's unclear whether she'll ever wake up.





	1. Clarke

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: This work has been a WIP for over 2 years but after an initial dream run where it just wrote itself, it ground to a halt. I'm posting the three chapters that I have in the hopes that some feedback/external pressure will help motivate me to finish it, or tell me if I should even bother! But basically please be aware that it may not ever be completed. Unbeta'ed, all mistakes are my own, please let me know so I can fix them.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended (obvs).

Clarke Griffin was shocked at the state of the girl who had just been wheeled in on the gurney. The girl’s face was covered in blood and soot, tear tracks making big trails through the blackness on her face. At least, Clarke assumed they were made by tears, the girl certainly wasn’t crying now… she was unconscious. The bustling emergency room leapt into action with her arrival. Clarke wasn’t sure what to do, it was her first day as a student doctor in Ark Med’s ER and she felt completely lost, a fish out of water. She waited for someone to give her instructions, in the meantime just watching the unconscious girl’s chest rise and fall.

“Mom, how can I help, I want to help?”, she grabbed the sleeve of Dr. Abby Griffin’s white coat as Abby hurried past her, toward the girl on the gurney. Her mother turned briefly, looking her up and down for a second as though surprised to see her in the ER, before quickly pointing at a bearded doctor barking orders as he took the handover from the paramedics. “Go ask Dr. Kane what to do, she’s his patient now. I have a whole ER to run Clarke, I can’t be holding your hand right now!”.

Clarke took a step back, momentarily hurt at Abby’s dismissal, before shaking it off and berating herself for having expected anything different from her mother. She strode forward, deciding there and then that she was there to learn and help, not seek her mother’s approval. She steadfastly ignored the voice in her head asking who exactly she was so determined to prove herself to if not her mother… herself, or the mysterious girl on the gurney?

\-----------

Within five minutes Clarke found herself in an elevator with Dr. Kane and the unconscious girl, on their way up to the 5th floor for a CT scan. Clarke wanted to ask what they were looking for but was intimidated by Dr. Kane’s brusque manner and hesitated to speak. To her relief he started talking instead, not at her but rather to a point over the other side of the gurney, making it seem more like a lecture than a conversation. “What we’re looking for is evidence of a bleed in the brain. According to the paramedics, she was conscious when they arrived but was screaming about pain stabbing behind her eyes, they were about to give her something for it when she lost consciousness and they haven’t been able to revive her. There is a significant laceration on the right side of her head so we’re assuming it impacted the ground when she was hit by the car. Can you tell me what possible physical and cognitive symptoms a bleed in this area of the brain might have?”

Clarke thought for a moment, then answered quickly and decisively, “The first typical symptom of a bleed caused by trauma is unconsciousness, which fits what the paramedics reported, and what we’re seeing. This can lead to possible...” she swallowed “…possible long-term coma if she doesn’t wake up soon. If she does wake soon she’ll probably have a headache, some weakness on one side or both, dizziness and a possible change in behaviour… which of course we wouldn’t, you know, recognise since we don’t KNOW her usual behaviour and you know, it’s difficult to say because, like, what’s normal for some isn’t normal for others…”. Clarke trailed off as she realised she was rambling. She attempted a quick recovery, asking “What's her name?”

“We don’t know.” Dr. Kane went on, “Paramedics found no identification on her, she was apparently walking by herself, the driver of the car was the one to call 911. It was a busy business district so no point getting the police to go door-to-door to residents hoping someone recognises her.” He thought for a moment, “I assume they’ll get her picture out if she doesn’t wake up soon, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Ah.”, said Clarke, not sure what else to say. The thought that this girl lying in front of her in the elevator might not wake up bothered her more than she expected it to. She gave herself a mental shake. _Clarke, you need to be putting on your professional face right now! Not going mopey over your VERY FIRST PATIENT. Pull yourself together!_ She forced herself to think positively and when the elevator bell dinged she announced brightly “Off to radiology then, let’s get that head seen to, shall we?” and then cringed at her own overly-perky tone of voice. Dr. Kane looked at her oddly and then took the lead, one hand on the foot of the gurney as he escorted it out of the elevator. Clarke took her spot at the gurney’s head and followed, shaking her head at herself as she pushed it down the corridor toward the RADIOLOGY sign.

\----------

Clarke felt dazed. She knew she was spacing out in front of Dr. Kane, losing the professional façade she’d been working so hard on but she was finding it difficult to care. The girl - _"Jane Doe"_ she reminded herself – had a massive bleed in her brain, a subdural haematoma. It was what Dr. Kane had mentioned and Clarke had feared, despite her matter-of-fact reeling off of the symptoms earlier in the elevator. "Jane" might not wake up anytime soon. Or ever. Clarke struggled to breathe. “I have to… go… do … a thing …”, was all she managed before breaking and darting for the door of Radiology’s suddenly claustrophobic viewing room.

She ran down the corridor, her white coat and student badge going at least some way toward encouraging people out of her path. It wasn’t sufficient though, she couldn’t get out of the hospital fast enough and just as she neared the end of the corridor she tripped and fell sprawling to her hands and knees, taking an instrument trolley down with her. She felt wetness on the floor, one hand slipping away from her as she staggered to her feet, and she looked down at it, her confusion and embarrassment briefly overcoming her panicked need to escape. She was surprised to see the bright red of fresh blood covering her right hand, so surprised that she held it up and waved it around, giggling, a little loopy from adrenalin. “I fell on a scalpel!”, she announced to all in the vicinity, “Who even DOES that??”. When the spectators looked more concerned than amused, reality hit and she said with a wince… “OW. SHIT. I fell on a fucking scalpel”.

\----------

A half hour, some gooood painkillers and a wad or five of gauze later, Clarke was sitting on a hospital bed of her very own, getting some much-needed stitches for her right hand. Or she had been, until her mother had ripped open the curtain in irritation at her daughter’s daring to ‘inconvenience’ her at work. She immediately dismissed Jackson, the resident who had been stitching up Clarke’s hand, glaring at the junior doctor until he bolted like the hounds of Hell were after him. Abby pulled up the vacated chair and sat with an irritated huff of breath and set to finish off the stitches, not looking Clarke in the eye and focusing solely on her lacerated hand. Clarke braced herself for the onslaught she was sure was coming, telling herself to act cool and contrite, not like the drunken hobo she felt like thanks to the drugs they’d given her.

“Clarke…”, Abby began, then stopped.

She tried again. “Clarkey I just don’t understand you. You had such a great opportunity here this year and now what? Do you have any idea how long this is going to take to heal?! Do you? How could you be so careless??”

Lulled into a false sense of security by Abby’s use of her childhood nickname, Clarke was more surprised than she should have been when her mother launched into the expected tirade of blame. But instead of getting angry, as she usually did, this time she just felt numb. _Must be the drugs,_ she decided. _They’re making my brain into cotton candy, like the yummy pink kind, not the blue kind that always looks like it’ll taste really good but never does and certainly not the orange kind which is just all kinds of wrong, orange is the colour of betraya-_

“Clarke, are you even listening to me?” Abby was clearly exasperated and Clarke jumped guiltily, wondering how long she’d tuned out for. “Sorry Mom. I totally zoned out, between the painkillers and the... the…” her brain refused to cooperate, though she knew she was forgetting something important. She searched the corners of her mind, coming up empty and sighing in resignation. It would come to her later she was sure. “It’s just been a really big morning.”.

Abby gave a sigh of her own. “Fine Clarke. Okay,” her tone turned businesslike again, “You know to keep this clean, come back tomorrow to change the dressing, earlier if it starts bleeding again or you feel feverish.”

“Come back tomorrow?” Clarke was confused, the painkillers still not having worn off. “But I’m already here, I’m rostered on overnight?” She felt panicky at the thought of leaving the hospital, sure there was something she needed to do first.

“Clarke, don’t be ridiculous, you might as well go home, you’re no good to us here now with your hand like that.” Abby continued, oblivious to the effect her words were having on her increasingly more distressed daughter. “I’ll talk to Marcu… Dr. Kane about how long you’ll need to be off recovering and I’ll let you know tomorrow when you come back in what we’ve decided”. Her tone was final.

Suddenly Clark remembered why she couldn’t leave, the memory coming to her all in a flash of shock and panic… “NO WAIT I have to stay! I have to see how she is, know if she wakes up!! I have to be there!” She got up too fast, her head spinning, searching the crowds around her in the ER. “Mom… MOM WHERE IS THE GIRL ON THE GURNEY!???!” Abby looked confused. Clarke’s knees felt weak and black spots swam before her eyes. “Oh crap…” she managed, before the world faded to black.


	2. Octavia

Octavia hadn’t been waiting too long before the blonde girl in the hospital bed - _Clarke_ , her memory filled in helpfully, _Dr Griffin’s daughter_ \- began to stir.

She sat quietly in her designated chair in the corner, absentmindedly stroking Bellamy’s silky ears as they watched Clarke slowly get her bearings. Bellamy wagged his tail, wanting to go and play therapy dog to the blonde but Octavia kept him at her feet until Clarke seemed awake enough. She was looking quite dazed still, her forehead crinkling as she winced and raised her good hand to feel the raised lump on her forehead. Octavia hoped it wasn’t as painful as it looked though she suspected it might be. When Clarke lowered her hand with a sigh, still with a perplexed expression on her face, Octavia decided it was time to have mercy on her.

“You fainted and faceplanted the hospital bed you were standing next to” Octavia announced, matter-of-factly. “Apparently it was a thing of beauty, I wish I could have seen it.” She regretted her casual approach when Clarke visibly jumped and then swore, hand going to her sore head, surprised at her presence. Hand still on her head, as if to hold it in place, she turned around slowly and carefully to look at Octavia and then, appraisingly, at Bellamy.

“This is Bellamy,” Octavia felt a little defensive as she followed Clarke’s gaze. “He needs a haircut but he’s a good boy I swear” Bellamy wagged his tail at her words as Octavia gestured in his direction. “I’m Octavia.” She stood up and went over to the bed, holding out her right hand awkwardly. Clarke just waved her bandaged hand at her, eyebrows raised. “Oh right, sorry,” Octavia looked sheepish and switched hands.

“I’m Clarke, pleasedtomeetyou” Clarke said automatically as she shook Octavia’s hand.

“Oh, I know who you are, your mother’s the one that told me to keep an eye on you.” Octavia grinned cheekily, determined to lighten the mood. “She practically grabbed me as soon as I walked in this morning, I guess she was worried what else you might do if you woke up and no-one was here.” She paused to drag Bellamy away from where he was apparently determined to get into the contents of the HAZMAT bin. He seemed to take pride in finding the filthiest places to dig into. She continued as she tried in vain to smooth his mussed-up fur, “I always have the hour free while they give the patients morning tea, funnily enough Bell here has a less therapeutic effect when his curly doggy hairs are all up in people’s food”.

Clarke laughed then immediately grabbed at her head again as if it hurt. “Ow… Don’t make me laugh”.

“Sorry.” Octavia felt briefly contrite and quickly changed the subject. “So… your mom is kind of terrifying.”

Clarke was quiet for a minute and Octavia began to rethink her choice of topic. She was about to attempt an apology when, with a sigh, Clarke nodded. “She can be. She hasn’t been the same since… well for a while, to be honest. She never used to be this way but now it’s like…” she paused and swallowed. “Nothing is ever good enough. It’s got to be perfect or she won’t have anything to do with it.” Her next words were said so softly Octavia had to strain to hear them. “Even me.” A moment of silence followed before Clarke continued, her voice stronger. “I mean, I know she loves me and all but yeah, she’s kind of a hard-ass!” She forced a laugh, clearly embarrassed at her moment of vulnerability.

Octavia laughed with her, her own laughter equally forced but not knowing what else to do. She could see though that Clarke knew she wasn’t fooled. Deciding it wasn’t her business to pry into Clarke’s relationship with her mother, Octavia’s eyes searched the room for a new topic of conversation. Her eyes fell upon the curtain that separated the two beds of the dual-occupancy room and she was suddenly reminded of the occupant of the other bed. Remembering that Dr. Griffin had mentioned that Clarke was assisting with that same patient earlier that day, she seized the opportunity for a second change of topic. “Right! So, hey, what’s the deal with Coma Girl over there?”

Clarke looked at her, wide-eyed. “What? Where? She’s here??” She threw back her covers and scrambled to get up. Octavia was caught by surprise by Clarke’s sudden movement but easily pushed her back into the bed, making sure it was clear she was to stay there. _Ha_ , Octavia thought, _I’m stronger than I look. Or she’s weaker than she thought, because I am TINY_. Bellamy jumped up against the bed, paws across Clarke’s legs, and Octavia shook her head in amusement at his determination to always valiantly (and unnecessarily!) defend her.

“Dude no. Your mother would kill me if I let you out of bed before she had a chance to check on you. I just meant your room-mate over there, your Mom said she was your patient when she came in last night” she moved over to pull aside the curtain separating Clarke’s bed from the other one, the one Clarke apparently hadn’t even realised was there. “What’s with the violent overreaction anyway?”

Clarke didn’t answer her, didn’t even seem to hear her ask the question. Her eyes were fixed on the girl she had apparently seen the night before, and she looked mesmerized. Octavia felt compelled to fill the awkward silence. “So, yeah, when I came in they were just finishing up morning checks, they were taking some equipment and stuff away and yeah, they said she looked pretty bad when she came in but she was cleaned up and well, she looks okay now… that must be a relief right?” Octavia waited for a response, eventually realizing that none would be forthcoming despite the spark of reaction ( _jealousy_?) that crossed Clarke’s face when she mentioned that others had been caring for the girl.

She looked at the unconscious girl, wondering what on earth was so special about her to hypnotize Clarke in that way. She looked fairly ordinary… dark curly hair, but not as dark as Octavia’s own… she was pretty, though the orderlies had commented that she’d looked scary as hell before all the soot and smoke was cleaned off her skin. All in all, Octavia really couldn’t see what the fuss was about but Clarke was still just gazing at her like she was the answer to all life’s questions. Octavia cleared her throat awkwardly into the silence and tried again. “So… friend of yours?”.

“No… actually, though I wish…” not even looking away from the girl as she spoke, Clarke then trailed off completely.

“You wish…? Hello… Earth to Clarke? What’s it like up wherever you are Sky-Girl? Man, you are spaced out. Are you always like this?” Octavia’s gently mocking tone finally got through to Clarke and she turned to look at Octavia, her face full of questions.

“Wait, you called her Coma-Girl - does that mean she hasn’t woken up at all? Are you SURE? Not even once?” Octavia felt like she was being interrogated as Clarke’s tone grew more agitated.

Octavia’s hands lifted in mock-defence against the onslaught. Bell tried again to jump to her defence but succeeded only in tangling his paws up in Clarke’s blankets. _Doofus_. “Dude I don’t know, I was kidding! Your mom just said you knew her and she’s been asleep since I came in so I thought it’d be funny! Bit of the old hospital humour… you know… I didn’t realise you were so…” Octavia quickly reconsidered her word choice at the warning look Clarke gave her “…invested! I’m sorry!”

Octavia began to feel genuinely contrite when, visibly frustrated at the lack of solid information, Clarke sank back into her pillows. “Damn it. I hate being stuck here. Can you go find my mom and tell her I’m just fine please? Maybe she’ll also know something about... “Jane”.”

““Jane”?” Octavia raised an eyebrow before figuring it out. “Oh yeah, your mom said there was no ID so she’s a Jane Doe, that’s how it works right?”

“Yes Octavia, that’s how it works.” Clarke suddenly looked exhausted and seemed to retreat into herself. _She looks like she’s just run a damn marathon_ , Octavia thought, feeling guilty at not having given Clarke any time to process what she’d been through that day. She was unsurprised when Clarke tiredly reiterated, “I’m sorry, I’m just tired, can you just get my mom please?”.

Octavia reluctantly decided to respect Clarke’s change in demeanour and began to slowly gather her things, untangling Bellamy’s leash from where it was caught up in his front paws which were, in turn, still tangled in Clarke’s blankets. _It’s ridiculous just how fast Bell can make a mess, of ANYTHING_. “Sure Clarke, just rest okay, I’ll be back soon with your mom unless you’d prefer I just send her up?” Octavia felt oddly apprehensive at the thought that Clarke might not want her company again.

“No, you’re fine, if you’re not busy come on back, I just need a minute, you get it, right?”

Octavia wondered if Clarke was simply being polite but she suspected she was probably just relieved at the thought that she might not have to face her scary mother alone. Octavia made a decision to take Clarke’s words at face value and nodded. “Yeah, yeah of course, cool, okay well then seeya!” Octavia practically skipped out the door, Bellamy perilously close to tripping her up in his haste to follow. “I’ll see you in a bit!” She called over her shoulder as she turned to leave. Clarke was shaking her head, Octavia suspected at her, but hey she was kind of smiling too so that was good! She bounced off down the corridor, Bellamy at her heels as always.


	3. Lexa

The day before:

“You just don’t understand, Anya!” Lexa was fuming. Anya was always so insistent that her way was the only way but Lexa wasn't convinced. “My grades are great, surely that gives me the right to relax a little and maybe, I don’t know, have a LIFE?”

“Of course you can have a life Lexa,” Anya’s tone was patient as always but Lexa sensed the annoyance running beneath the surface. “When you’re finished with your studies. Not before. I promised your parents I would take responsibility for you and this is me doing that.”

“Did you promise them you’d be my JAILER too?” Lexa was pushing Anya further than she had before but she was at the end of her rope. All she’d done the entire week was study and she really wanted to just cut loose and go out, she couldn't believe Anya wouldn't give her a break. “I don't even have any more assignments due! My exams are done!” Her tone grew increasingly more exasperated. “I’m literally just sitting here day after day, waiting to hear about placement interviews and still I’m supposed to be ‘brushing up’ as you put it?” Lexa was decisive now. “No. This is BS. I’m going out.” She threw on her black leather jacket and made a move for the door, wondering what she would do if Anya decided to bar her path.

Anya did no such thing as she'd apparently decided on a different approach. With her back to Lexa, not even bothering to look at her, she simply said “You know Clarke will be ‘brushing up’.”

UNFAIR! Lexa was momentarily speechless at the gall of her cousin. Then she found her voice, “NO. You don't get to tell me to forget about her ALL SEMESTER and then NOW, when it suits you, you use her against me… I can't believe you!” She took a breath, and then another, and then gave up on her planned escape and slumped down into the couch, all her fight gone. “I can't believe you just did that”.

“Well, you’re the one who’s always talking about how much you _admire_ her,” Anya was relentless. “Surely you’d want to emulate her study habits as well…”

“Anyaaaa…” Lexa was embarrassed at how uncharacteristically whiny she sounded, even to herself.

“Lexaaaa,” Anya mocked her. Lexa glared at her before simultaneously getting up and deciding she had had _quite_ enough of this conversation.

“Nope. I’m out. I’m done. Just you try and stop me,” she warned. She reached for the door, wondering when Anya was going to intervene. She was all the way through turning the handle, walking through the doorway and closing it behind her before she realised two things. Anya hadn't stopped her, and she'd left her wallet on the table, along with her backpack, phone, and house keys.

“DAMMIT!” Lexa briefly considered knocking on the door and asking Anya for her things but decided almost immediately against it. _I can’t stand to see the smirk on her face, it’ll be even worse knowing I deserve it! No,_ she decided. _Let her stew. I need a win for once_.

With that optimistic thought, she turned away from the locked apartment door, and made her way out of the old warehouse building into the busy night.

\----------

Lexa walked along the street, pondering her options. With no phone or wallet on her she realised she couldn't arrange to meet up with anyone or even get a coffee by herself. She was nonetheless determined not to return to the apartment for a good long while. _I guess a brisk evening walk is the order of the day!_ She realised quickly that she had also forgotten her coat in the apartment and as a result was quickly getting quite chilled. Lexa searched her brain for a new approach to her evening's rebellion.

She had a thought and quickly checked her watch, relieved to see that the timing was perfect. _Lincoln will be finishing up his shift soon, maybe he and Indra will be getting dinner or something._ She glanced at her surroundings, quickly getting her bearings and then adjusted her course for the nearby hospital. Most of the students she'd met at college seemed to have ended up there for placement, Lincoln (and Clarke) were no exception. Lincoln's aunt, Indra worked there as well, in the same department as Lincoln actually so that was a happy coincidence for them.

As Lexa made her way through the darkened streets she found her thoughts straying inevitably to Clarke, as they always seemed to. Since the first day she'd seen the blonde, sitting a few rows in front of her in her Communication for Professionals class, she'd been transfixed by her smile and thoughtful blue eyes. Lexa had played it cool of course, so cool that 6 months later, Clarke still didn't know who she was. Lexa was so accustomed to the current situation she couldn't bring herself to do anything to risk changing things, even for the better. So, she carried on, watching Clarke from afar and learning about her through occasional overheard (eavesdropped!) conversations. Then, of course, passing all this information on to Anya as she mooned over Clarke most evenings. 

She knew Clarke was studying Medicine, that she was driven to help people and that she was very, very dedicated and focused on her studies, to the exclusion of much else it seemed. Lexa had certainly never seen her messing about in class like so many others did, even in the face of constant goading by the annoying floppy-haired man-child, Finn, that they (regrettably) shared the class with.

As Anya had so recently pointed out, Lexa admired Clarke's dedication but that didn't mean she didn't also wonder if she ever had a chance to have any fun. She'd never seen her at any of the campus mixers or anything, so she knew very little about her personal life. She couldn't identify any particular friends, though Clarke certainly seemed to be friendly with everyone. Maybe she was just like that, one of those loner types. Lexa was familiar with that, she'd been the same way for a long time, Anya had worked hard to get her to come out of her shell more.

\----------

Musing about Clarke and her own history with Anya, Lexa realised she had been on autopilot for the last few minutes and with a moment of panic, realised she wasn't entirely sure where she was… She stopped dead in the middle of the street, shocked out of her thoughts and searched for a street sign she recognised. She didn't find one. She also didn't see the car driving up behind her, the driver distracted by a phone call. Or the ambulance arriving soon after. All Lexa saw was darkness.


End file.
